In the process of booking 14-day Italy trip and need some quick advice.

I've never been along the coast and we found a great deal on Lloyd's Baia hotel http://www.lloydsbaiahotel.it/

I thought this was within the general borders of the Amalfi Coast, but I guess it's in Salerno ...

I went looking for info about Salerno but couldn't find much. It's mentioned as a sort of side-note in many of the descriptions of Amalfi.

Has anyone been there? Anything to report? Should I quickly change the itinerary?

I had a friend pick me up from the train station there when I went to go visit him in Amalfi. It was a good drive away. I wouldn't base myself there.

Besides just the distance, has anyone seen the sights in Salerno?

Our hotel looks amazing and I want to give it a fair shot. We're getting 70 percent off the standard rate through a friend who works for a vacation company.

http://www.lloydsbaiahotel.it/

Has anyone stayed in Salerno, walked around, etc?

Hi Jess,

In Sept I traveled by public trans from Praiano (which is on the Amalfic Coast) to Paestum. I got off the boat in Salerno and walked all the way to the train station, a long walk. Salerno is a large, busy, industrial city. I walked along a lovely, long and narrow bay-side park with lots of trees.

It is not a place to stay to do day trips to the Amalfi Coast. It is not considered part of the Amalfi Coast and has none of the atmosphere of the small towns on the rugged coast.

Hope this helps!

I was there only for a day, to visit family. it's a pretty little coastal city, nice beach, great views. I'm sure the Amalfi coast itself is more breathtaking but Salerno is a nice, traditional Italian town to stay in. Close to Pompei, if I recall.

I'd disagree a bit with the poster recall Salerno being very large, or industrial. I would describe greater Napoli like that though. Not saying you should stay there, but I just wanted to offer my opinion. If you're looking for something less touristy, it's a good fit. If you want to be closer to the sights of the Amalfi coast, then maybe not.

John may be thinking of Sorrento - which is close to Pompeii. Salerno isn't, much further south.

I wouldn't mind at all staying in a non-touristy or even in an urban place as long as there are some restaurants, places to walk around and some things to do (ie winery within a few hours by train or a day trip w/in a few hours by train).

If Salerno is devoid of all that, then I think I need to regroup.

Please keep the thoughts coming ....

I've spent one evening in Salerno and wouldn't do so again. We had a 5 hour "layover" between our ferry from Positano (which dropped us off at the harbor in Salerno) and our train back north. We had dinner and walked around the town... while it was nice enough, there wasn't much of touristic interest to say the least. The train station was downright scary at night.

Salerno is fairly close to the amazing Greek ruins at Paestum, but you can reach them from other areas with not that much more effort

No, I know I was in Salerno, as I said my family is there. It's south, but not that far south at all. Actually Sorrento is probably father because it's out on the peninsula.

Just looked at a map, and Salerno really looks okay as a non-touristy base for explotation of the coast.

Here you go:

http://www.taxidelmare.it/images/mappa2001.jpg

Thanks. John, do you remember if there were restaurants and things to do there?

Every place has it's ups and downs ... I just want to make sure it's not going to be a disaster if we go there. In terms of train stations, my experience has been that every one from Rome to Venice is scary at night. Also, I would think that any place you have a five hour layover in you might not associate with fondness.

That said I TRULY appreciate all these comments.

Have you guys gone to the web site of the hotel I'm staying at?
http://www.lloydsbaiahotel.it/
Perhaps I just don't want to part with it. And I have a hard time imagining that something this nice would be plopped in the middle of the ghetto.

Please keep the thoughts coming!! This forum is great.

It really depends on what you'd like. Are there restaurants and bars? Yes. Will your servers speak English? Maybe not.

The experience will be very diferent from staying in a tourist driven coastal town.

As far as safety, I think your comment on Rome and Venice was dead on. We stayed near the station in Rome once - won't do that again. From what I saw of Sorrento - the cousins took me on a tour - I liked it a lot, mostly because it felt like an authentic Italian experience.

Having said that, I can totally see wanting a more "tourist friendly" experience if I just wanted to kick back and relax. Again, it really depends on the type of experience you'd like to have. Hope this helps.

Actually, just talking about this with my wife, and she reminded me that my cousins said that in high season the town IS full of tourists as well, so maybe it is a good place for the best of both worlds.

http://fodors.com/miniguides/mgresul...ur_section=ove
(Scroll to bottom for Salerno)

For more, try a text search here.

Website does indeed look nice. States that the hotel is actually in Vietri sul Mare, 2km from Salerno.

I find no reviews for the hotel on tripadvisor; perhaps it's quite new?

The hotel does look beautiful, however I think you will definitely need a rental car unless you want to be hiring taxi cabs every time you want to leave and return to the hotel. That said, a rental car is a pain on the Amalfi Coast and I cannot imagine trying to drive in Naples. Have you asked the hotel about any sort of shuttle they might run to/from the harbor or train station? Those two spots will be the main modes of transportation to the towns on the Amalfi Coast, Paestum, Naples, Pompei, Capri, etc.

There is a small pedestrian mall of sorts in Salerno that we walked a couple times. The shops weren't cutesy boutiques or anything, but there were a few clothing stores. We had dinner at a pizzeria and the food and service was great. Salerno isn't terrible or anything like that, it's just not remotely comparable to the many other towns in the area for charm, ambience, and location.

Apparently the hotel does have a shuttle to and from various attractions ...

Jessvs,

Well, I knew my stay in Salerno would help SOMEBODY eventually!

We were in Salerno in October. You can view my trip report at:

www.freewebs.com/mr2llman

I purposely chose this area, and I also had a very cheapie hotel rate, you can check out the pictures of the hotel to decide if you'd like to stay there! I was on a travel agent rate, so I couldn't complain but I certainly would have been disappointed with the hotel if I was paying the full rate!

I did a site inspection of another hotel near the train station and it was much nicer than our "4-star" (and I use the term loosely) Jolly hotel. I probably have the name of it somewhere in my notes; I didn't see the hotel you're talking about.

About Salerno itself: it's a larger city than you'd probably imagine, but I wouldn't describe it as "industrial". There is a "main drag" which has tons of shops, most of them more high-end than I I would have thought for this area. (i.e., non-touristy)

There are lots of restaurants (although we had some difficulty finding them our first night, but after that, it was easy, they're just not located on the main drag where all the shops are (where you'd think they'd be!). All we found were alot of pizza places and wine bars that first night.

Our location was ideal for getting the bus or ferry to do day trips to Capri, Amalfi, etc.

Staying at the train station location would not be as convenient; you'd have to take a bus or a cab to get a transfer to the ferry or another bus.

There is a lovely walkway along the coast with mature palm trees, parklike setting which is very pleasant (but we had VERY bad weather).

We met just one other American couple at our hotel, they'd been in So. Italy for a month with bad weather (weird front that moved in) and I think they'd finally figured out they should move on!

So, it's a very "regional" experience. You're not going to run into alot of other tourists (which I like); everyone we met was kind and accommodating; the food was good, and if you're using this as a "base" as we did, it can work for you; I just wish we had better weather while there!

Hope this is helpful!

Melodie

Hi J,

If you have found a great hotel at a great price, take it.

You will be in Vietri sul Mare, not Salerno.

You will be about 2.5 km from the ferry docks in Salerno that go to Amalfi, Positano, Capri and Sorrento.

You will be about the same distance from the train station for Paestum, Pompeii and Naples.

There is SITA bus service along the Amalfi Coast Road between Salerno and Sorrento. Your hotel can give you schedules and directions.

Your major problem might be getting to/from your hotel.

Have a nice visit.

Yes, your hotel is in Vietri Sul Mare, not in Salerno. Vietri is a nice little town, quite a few restaurants and night life with lots of people hanging out eating and drinking late into the evening.

Hotel is only 10 minutes from the port to Capri, etc. All in all, if you got a good deal, I'd say go for it.